# Sci-fi/action movie tech that is worse than our current tech--and STUPID! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293 "2017-06-18T15:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/41 "2017-06-19T01:09:44Z")
X-Wings did a pretty good number on them in Rogue One, as did the Star Wars equivalent of a Huey helicopter with an M60 machine gun hanging out the side. Those little snowspeeders were particularly wimpy. I saw The Empire Strikes Back when I was 8 and even then I thought the Rebels should have just chewed up the terrain in front of the walkers such that they couldn’t step over it. AT-AT’s are dumb. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/42 "2017-06-19T01:19:16Z")
Visually the AT/AT was great as an menacing force that was almost impossible to stop and it was based off of elephants and now that I think of it, there is a certain resemblance to the Martian tripods of War of the Worlds ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/43 "2017-06-19T01:24:46Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > X-Wings did a pretty good number on them in Rogue One, as did the Star Wars equivalent of a Huey helicopter with an M60 machine gun hanging out the side. Those little snowspeeders were particularly wimpy. > > I saw The Empire Strikes Back when I was 8 and even then I thought the Rebels should have just chewed up the terrain in front of the walkers such that they couldn’t step over it. > > AT-AT’s are dumb. I though they made the AT/AT’s a little too wimpy in Rogue One . Not sure about the chewing of the terrain in ESB, the walkers would go around it, I suppose ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/44 "2017-06-19T01:42:55Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Not quite an example of my OP by inspired by the posts here: the idea that you could have AI androids like the one in _Alien_ or Data from _Star Trek_ or for that matter the droids in Star Wars and not have those worlds be _totally different_ than what is portrayed therein is, when you think about it, quite laughable. You’re probably not a fan of the webcomic _Questionable Content_ then. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/45 "2017-06-19T01:45:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This isn’t necessarily “tech”, but the design aesthetic which has the Empire place important controls and information in bottomless shafts, on the top of towers, and on really thin walkways… well, it just has to stop. Please. Cause it looks stupid. First thing Emperor Palpataine eliminated was the Republic OSHA. 😉 > [@ssgenius](#): > > I though they made the AT/AT’s a little too wimpy in Rogue One . Or since starfighter weapons were more powerful than speeder weapons, divert a couple to take out the AT-ATs, before convoying the transport ship out. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/46 "2017-06-19T01:47:27Z")
It’s interesting to watch stuff even from the 90s and see how much tech they have that’s weaker than a modern smart phone. There’s an episode of Babylon 5 where a major plot point is that one of the bridge crew gets kidnapped and the kidnappers would be able to keep it secret from the bridge if only she didn’t have a particular habit. But with today’s tech you could easily have her communicator tell the bridge her location and send an alert if someone tries to shut it off. The plasma guns in Babylon 5 are much more complicated and not as effective as modern firearms, and the justification (bullets making holes in the station) doesn’t really work, since the outer hull should be better armored than that (it takes impacts and weapons fire) and starting big fires (which the guns do) is worse than small holes. I agree that it’s silly to nitpick Star Wars; it’s not a setting that’s trying to be realistic or tell realistic stories, and the tech is just stuff that looks cool. Of course it’s not going to hold up to scrutiny, they’re not trying to make a setting that’s high-tech or all that coherent, and it’s not even set in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/47 "2017-06-19T01:52:53Z")
TV/Movie world fire sprinkler systems that set off every sprinkler head simultaneously when one is activated. Because that’s what every company owner wants when there’s a toaster fire in the breakroom. Millions of dollars in water damage. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/48 "2017-06-19T02:55:08Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > TV/Movie world fire sprinkler systems that set off every sprinkler head simultaneously when one is activated. > Because that’s what every company owner wants when there’s a toaster fire in the breakroom. Millions of dollars in water damage. It’s dumb, but it happens. The NCAA here in Indy had a museum with a lot of exhibits made with paper and cardboard. There was a little fire, the sprinklers in the museum went off, and basically everything was destroyed. The museum took a couple years to open up again. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/49 "2017-06-19T02:56:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Guns that miss. Really, all the other technology that could exist, FTL, transporters, invisibility, holograms indistinguishable from reality, robots indistinguishable from humans, nano-machines, unobtanium, and everything else anyone can imagine, but whether it’s bullets or energy beams of some kind the guns can still miss. I have suggested in the context of _Star Trek_ weapons tech that this could actually be a sign of very advanced technology. If an arms race between assisted aiming tech and electronic countermeasures ends up favoring the ECM, you might get a situation in which using AAT against a target with ECM virtually _guarantees_ missing, or worse. (I speculated that Federation and Klingon ECM progressed to the point of sometimes being able to trick enemy weapons into overload states.) Since you can’t tell who’s got ECM, you drop the AAT entirely. In the meantime, however, you’ve got one or more generations of weapon designs and training that have neglected manual aiming. Result: everyone misses a lot for a while, then gradually returns to a baseline competence similar to what we see with contemporary handheld weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/50 "2017-06-19T04:05:45Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > It’s interesting to watch stuff even from the 90s and see how much tech they have that’s weaker than a modern smart phone. There’s an episode of Babylon 5 where a major plot point is that one of the bridge crew gets kidnapped and the kidnappers would be able to keep it secret from the bridge if only she didn’t have a particular habit. But with today’s tech you could easily have her communicator tell the bridge her location and send an alert if someone tries to shut it off. The plasma guns in Babylon 5 are much more complicated and not as effective as modern firearms, and the justification (bullets making holes in the station) doesn’t really work, since the outer hull should be better armored than that (it takes impacts and weapons fire) and starting big fires (which the guns do) is worse than small holes. IIRC, the B5 links were DNA-coded to their owners. If someone not their owner tried to use them, there’d be an audio warning and an automatic message to central security. The link couldn’t be left on the abductee, because then she’d be found as soon as it was noticed she was missing, and it couldn’t be used by someone else to lay a false trail, either. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/51 "2017-06-19T04:51:22Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > I though they made the AT/AT’s a little too wimpy in Rogue One . > > Not sure about the chewing of the terrain in ESB, the walkers would go around it, I suppose In _Rogue One_ they were AT-ACTs (Armoured Cargo Transport), they have a large orange/rust coloured removable cargo pod. Compared to the \*ESB \*AT-AT they have less armour and firepower. I saw some early release shots of LEGO First Order AT-AT’s from the upcoming _Last Jedi_ and they appear to have serrated wire-cutter attachments on the front legs - no more cable tripping 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/52 "2017-06-19T04:52:46Z")
Since we are talking Star Wars… Why build a droid you can’t communication with in the first place? There’s no reason why R2 has to speak in bloops and beeps, just install an English translation program like C3PO’s. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/53 "2017-06-19T04:52:50Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > I though they made the AT/AT’s a little too wimpy in Rogue One. Those weren’t AT/ATs; they were cargo models based upon the same general design. > [@dogbutler](#): > > Or since starfighter weapons were more powerful than speeder weapons, divert a couple to take out the AT-ATs, before convoying the transport ship out. Yup; in our Table-Top RPG game, we did just that. AT/ATs vs. Y-Wings and X-Wings w/laser cannons, proton torpedoes, and deflector shields? Scratch one invasion force. 🆒 ETA: Whups; there’s a page two that addressed my first point! ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/54 "2017-06-19T05:04:12Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > In _A New Hope_ (Star Wars original movie), the detention levels have security cameras. > > They apparently do not exist anywhere else in the same universe. The lack of surveillance cameras seems to be a pretty prevalent trope in\* Star Wars\*, _Star Trek_ and just about every other sci fi movie or show. I remember an episode of _Star Trek: DS9_ were one of the overseers helped prisoners escape and his superiors didn’t even mention looking at security cameras. (It was the episode wher Damar helped Worf and Ezri Dax escape a Cardassian detention block.) And they were numerous episodes where an enemy roaming the ship and no one ever mentions showing the security cameras on the viewscreen. So apparently they don’t exist on _Star Trek_ ships. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/55 "2017-06-19T05:27:06Z")
The MA5B combat rifle in Halo is an assault rifle that is completely inaccurate and very low powered despite the fact it fires 7.62x51mm bullets, and despite having a computerized ammo counter and compass built into the weapon HUD it also still uses basic iron sights. It loses all accuracy at about 40 meters, and for comparison the basic pistol will both do more damage per shot and also be far far more accurate. This in a gun that was created 500 years from now and yet rifles from the 1950’s using the exact same rounds are much more accurate to a much greater range. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/56 "2017-06-19T11:23:56Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Visually the AT/AT was great as an menacing force that was almost impossible to stop and it was based off of elephants and now that I think of it, there is a certain resemblance to the Martian tripods of War of the Worlds Yes, they look neat. That’s why they’re in the movie. Most things about Star Wars movies are dumb, though. Like planetary blockades consisting of a group of ships that no one would ever think of defeating by showing up on the other side of the planet and cruising around it at low altitude to besieged location. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/57 "2017-06-19T15:56:55Z")
It always bugged me on Star Trek TNG when there was a conversation like this: “Computer, locate Commander Riker” “Commander Riker is not on the Enterprise” Here’s a thought… if you have this ability to tell when someone is on the ship, how about you just run that check for everyone who SHOULD be on the ship every half a second, and if someone suddenly isn’t, you raise an automated alarm? And on the somewhat related topic of cliche subversion, I’d love to see a scene where a powerful and sneaky bad guy has been captured, and is being held in a secure sell, and then suddenly starts thrashing around on the floor claiming to be having a heart attack, and medics rush in… but only after establishing an additional lockdown protocol and summoning a few dozen extra armed security guards. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/58 "2017-06-19T16:12:22Z")
Without carefully looking over al the prior entries, I don’t think anyone has yet mentioned Stormtrooper Armor. It’s clumsy and confining and evidently is useless at stopping blasters from hurting you. It’s a continuing mystery why anyone wears it. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/59 "2017-06-19T16:15:40Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > • Relatedly, almost all of the military tech in the Star Wars movies is ridiculous. Example: in Revenge of the Sith, in the space battle at the beginning, there are robots that come and start gnawing on Anakin’s and Obi-Wan’s ship. Simply having these robots blow up would obliterate the ship. Done and done. I thought those robots were the dumbest thing. I can see them being targeted against larger capital ships but firing them at smaller fighters doesn’t seem like it’s worth the effort or expense. > [@JohnT](#): > > Since we are talking Star Wars… > > Why build a droid you can’t communication with in the first place? There’s no reason why R2 has to speak in bloops and beeps, just install an English translation program like C3PO’s. Movie-wise, it works because then you get a feisty droid who plays off the fussy buddy. In-universe, it really does make any sense though. Maybe it’s designed to send a lot of information quickly but why couldn’t the droid have two languages or something? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/60 "2017-06-19T16:18:57Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Shapeshifting aliens? While the double door may work it takes up space, and we all know how tight these Starships are as we hardly ever see a toilet. But the door to put food through is just asking for some alien to leach out. So have a solid door with a force field at the food slot. Best of both worlds. Or just a well-fit metal sliding panel over the food slot – if the alien can squeeze through the tiny gap left, it can probably escape via the ventilation system or some other way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293.md?page=4)